Rupert Murdoch’s Software Co. Funds North Korean Regime?

September 7, 2010

(ChattahBox US News)—This is something you won’t hear on Fox News. Rupert Murdoch, founder of media conglomerate News Corp., which owns Fox News, is reportedly pumping up Kim Jong-Il’s oppressive regime of North Korea with foreign currency. According to Bloomberg News, a unit of News Corp. named Fox Mobile, published cell phone games developed by programmers working for a North Korean government agency. The games are based on the somewhat dated films, “The Big Lebowski” and “Men in Black: Alien Assault.”

“Programmers from North Korea’s General Federation of Science and Technology developed a 2007 mobile-phone bowling game based on the 1998 film, as well as “Men in Black: Alien Assault,” according to two executives at Nosotek Joint Venture Company, which markets software from North Korea for foreign clients. Both games were published by a unit of News Corp., the New York-based media company, a spokeswoman for the unit said.”

“They represent a growing software industry championed by Kim that is boosting the economy of one of the poorest countries in the world and raising the technological skills of workers. Contracting with North Korean companies is legal under United Nations sanctions unless they are linked to the arms trade.”

Media Matters asks if Murdoch has consulted with Fox News hosts and contributors, such as Sean Hannity, who called Kim Jong-Il “a mad man like Adolf Jr., Ahmadinejad.” And Glenn Beck, who bizarrely said U.S. universities are” just as dangerous with indoctrination of our children as these terror groups are in Iran or in North Korea.”

Comments

“This week’s Big Story, echoing through the noise machine, was the outrageous news that Fox News is feeding money to Kim Jong-Il. Or something. It began with a [Bloomberg]* article, and the hate sites quickly put their spin on it. In no time at all you could read that News Corp ‘[funds]**’ the [Kim Jong-Il]*** [regime]^. Media Matters [characterized]^^ it as News Corp ‘funneling money into the pocket’ of Kim. According to Keith Olbermann, Murdoch is [assisting]^^^ NoKo’s nuke program!”
* businessweek.com/news/2010-09-07/kim-bowls-for-murdoch-dollars-with-korean-video-games.html
** crooksandliars.com/karoli/rupert-murdochs-news-corp-funds-north-korea
*** chattahbox.com/us/2010/09/07/rupert-murdochs-software-co-funds-north-korean-regime/
^ thepoliticalcarnival.net/2010/09/rupert-murdoch-helping-fund-north-korean-regime-of-kim-jong-il/
^^ mediamatters.org/blog/201009070028
^^^ economycollapse.blogspot.com/2010/09/rupert-murdoch-helping-north-korea.html

“Over at Just My Opinion, they got to Media Matters’ mendacity [ahead of us]*, focusing in on MM’s query ‘wondering’ what various Fox News personalities thought of all this:”
* chrisgworld.blogspot.com/2010/09/new-left-wing-fox-news-hating-talking.html
–
‘Media Matters “wonders” what they think about it? Why? News Corp owns Fox News. Fox News does not own News Corp. News Corp does not need Fox News approval for anything they do…. It’s refreshing to see people not in lockstop with the parent company. I work for a company, does that mean I have to agree with everything they do? I don’t. What does this say about News Corp? News Corp owns Fox News and I don’t see Murdoch sending a Memo to Ailes saying what can and can’t be said about people that News Corp does dealings with.’
–
“Indeed. It’s no surprise that websites where everyone marches in lockstep can’t seem to get their heads around organizations where people are free to hold different opinions and disagree.”
***
J$P: Fox Haters Week in Review!
johnnydollar.us/files/100912fhwir.php

“But we should dig a little deeper into the facts of this case, facts that tend to get glossed over when the echo chamber revs up. Let’s take one of the games Bloomberg cited: ‘Big Lebowski Bowling’. This is a flash-based game designed for mobile phones, though it’s being spun as some incipient threat to cyber security. We don’t know when the development was commissioned, but we know when it hit the market. We found the [press release]*, and noted this portion:”
* realwire.com/release_detail.asp?ReleaseID=5823
–
‘Ojom GmbH is a leading publisher of mobile entertainment products and belongs to a Joint Venture between News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A) and VeriSign (NASDAQ, VRSN).’
–
“Ojom was the German firm that contracted for the game, and eventually published it in May 2007. And by the time it was published, Ojom had become a joint venture of News Corp and VeriSign.”

“But what’s VeriSign? Who are these scoundrels endangering national security and funneling money into a dictator’s pocket? It turns out that they are the #1 [security provider for the internet]*, serving nearly 100,000 websites and a concomitant number of clients. Apparently the world leader in safeguarding the internet didn’t find a mobile phone flash game much of a security issue–because they co-published it! We haven’t heard much about VeriSign’s role in this concocted controversy, perhaps because there’s no way to spin it into a smear of Fox News. Look at a few of the [companies]** VeriSign works with:”
* verisign.com/ssl/why-verisign/index.html
** verisign.com/case-studies/index.html
–
‘Oracle’
‘The State of Kansas’
‘The US Department of Education’
‘The USAA’
–
“Wait a minute, what’s the USAA? Well, it was founded in 1922 by 25 Army officers and today is the #1-ranked provider of [financial services]* to the military and their families. If you believe that the USAA, the Department of Education, or anyone else is worried that VeriSign (or their partner in this venture, News Corp) was ‘funneling money’ to Kim Jong-Il, then you really ought to invest in some of that lovely oceanfront property in Kansas.”
* usaa.com/inet/ent_utils/McStaticPages?key=about_usaa_corporate_overview_history
***
J$P: Fox Haters Week in Review!
johnnydollar.us/files/100912fhwir.php

“By the way, Bloomberg notes that after News Corp bought out VeriSign in 2008 and converted Ojom to Fox Mobile, they abandoned the focus on content development and made it a marketing/distribution outlet. What, Media Matters didn’t tell you that? Even if there is no ‘funding’ of North Korea going on, it’s still worth nothing that the whole argument was always specious at best. It isn’t often that [someone at HuffPo]* makes points as trenchant as these:”
* huffingtonpost.com/social/beefpotatowheelman/rupert-murdoch-reportedly_b_707617_59817643.html
–
‘If you or anybody is going to attack RM for “funding” the North Korean regime, then tell the South Koreans to cut off all trade ties with the North Koreans and TAKE A HUGE STEP BACKWARD IN THE PEACE PROCESS. Let all the sheep starve, let them get painted into a corner, and let them go out in a big bang.’
–
“A final word on this from Chris Golas:”
–
‘I’ll also predict that the straw man and outright lies will start: Fox News “funds” North Korea. It happended before with News Corp donation to the RGA.’
–
“Well, if we aren’t there yet, we’re certainly [getting there]*:”
* thomhartmann.com/forum/2010/09/fox-news-ties-nk-official-terrorist-state
–
‘Fox News ties to NK (official Terrorist State!)’
–
“Nicely done, Thom Hartmann. By the way, North Korea [is not]* an ‘official terrorist state’. So you lied about that too.”
* state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2792.htm
***
J$P: Fox Haters Week in Review!
johnnydollar.us/files/100912fhwir.php

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